Isolation and characterization of acyl homoserine lactone–producing bacteria during an urban river biofilm formation

Abstract

The presence and diversity of acyl homoserine lactone (AHL)-producers in an urban river biofilm were investigated during 60-day biofilm formation. AHL biosensors detected the presence of AHL-producers in 1–60-day river biofilms. Screening for AHL-producers resulted in 17 Aeromonas spp., 3 Pseudomonas spp., 3 Ensifer spp., and 1 Acinetobacter sp. Among these isolates, six of them were closely related to Acinetobacter tjernbergiae, Aeromonas allosaccharophila, Aeromonas aquariorum, Aeromonas jandaei, Pseudomonas panipatensis, and Ensifer adhaerens and represented novel AHL-producing species. Thin layer chromatography revealed that C4-homoserine lactone was prevailing in Aeromonas spp., whereas C6- and C8-homoserine lactones and their derivatives were prevailing in other strains. Using degenerate primers, novel AHL synthetase genes from the three Ensifer spp. were successfully amplified. This study reports for the first time the diversity of AHL-producers from a river biofilm and the variety of novel AHL synthetase genes in Ensifer group.